Archive for April/2008

Albert Krisskoy, Director of IE Business Schoolâ??s China Office, talks in CHINESE to leading Chinese portal â??Sinaâ? about the IEâ??s highly international environment and special focus on entrepreneurship.

Albert is alumni from the IE International Executive MBA and also explains about the innovative IE online approach he experienced personally during the 13 month of the program.

If you wish to learn more about the International Executive MBA, please join the upcoming online presentation on May 6 at 17.00 Singapore / China time (11.00 Madrid, GMT+2) and register here.

Today we’re starting an new series introducing professors from IE Business School and their research passions. This video shows Prof. Dr. Enrique Dans talking about the ongoing evolving Internet.

April 2008 | By Javier Carrillo, Professor and Executive Director of the Centre for Eco-Intelligent Management at IE Business School

Renewable energies are revolutionizing the world energy scenario, bringing excellent business opportunities in Latin America, Asia and the US.

It is estimated that world investment in renewable energies broke through the $100,000 million ceiling in 2007, up 40% on the previous year. This trend promises consolidation in the context of unstoppable rises in oil prices and intense efforts to develop renewable energies by the industrialised nations committed to reducing their CO2 emissions.

The growth in turnover is being accompanied by a no less dynamic transformation of the structure of the sector, which is witnessing a progressive concentration of the ownership of once-independent companies in the hands of large multinationals. A growing number of participants in the renewable energy industry are also promoting the search for new opportunities in emerging markets and technologies. Special mention must be made of the Asian and Latin American markets as far as wind energy and biofuels are concerned. Outside the emerging countries, the United States market is also highly attractive, with a stable legislative framework that is becoming increasingly committed to renewable energies and offers an abundance of federal tax incentives for its development. Read more…

Original published by Forbes, http://www.forbes.com/forbes2000.

One world; one gigantic marketplace. This year, 60 countries have global 2000 entries vs. 51 in our inaugural list in 2004. The Forbes global 2000 are public companies with the top composite scores based on their rankings for sales, profits, assets and market value. Our justification for using a composite ranking is simple: One metric alone can give a false impression about corporate size.

In total, the global 2000 companies now account for $30 trillion in revenues, $2.4 trillion in profits, $119 trillion in assets and $39 trillion in market value. Around the world, 72 million people work for these companies.

The U.S. still dominates this list of global giants, but with 61 fewer entries than last year and 153 fewer than in 2004, as many U.S. companies failed to keep pace with global competitors. In contrast, China, India and Brazil are rapidly adding companies to the list. India, for example, has 48 companies this year vs. 27 in 2004.
Measured by number of companies, 315, the banking industry has the biggest presence on the global 2000. Banking also dominates in assets, with total assets of $58.3 trillion, and profits, $398 billion. The 123 companies in oil and gas operations lead all industries in aggregate revenues, of $3.76 trillion, and take second place in total profits, of $386 billion.
For the past few years, we have also identified an important subset of the global 2000: big companies that also have exceptional growth rates. To qualify as a global high performer, a company must stand out from its industry peers in growth, return to investors and future prospects. Most of the 130 global high performers have been expanding their earnings at 25% a year or better–easy for a start-up, hard for a blue chip.

Spain, currently the 8^th biggest country by GDP counts with 29 global companies:

From the upcoming intake of the Executive Master in Global Supply Chains IE Business School has introduced some changes in the program structure which certainly will benefit the candidates and the learning outcome.

The program has been stretched to 13 months with an annual intake in November each year. The program will now finish in December the following year. Together with the Financial Accounting and Quantitative methods we amplified the pre-program with a reading period called: Initiation in Supply Chains which helps to get a better academic approach and introduction.
The program counts now with 3 face-to-face periods: two weeks in Madrid at the beginning, two weeks in Shanghai in the middle and another one week on-site with online option at the end of the program in Madrid. This additional time allows more company visits and a stronger network building.

If you are curious about the revamped program, please join the upcoming online presentation on April 28 at 11am Madrid time, GMT+2 or visit the blog: http://mastersupplychains.blogs.ie.edu.

In meanwhile, enjoy the comments of our current students during their face-to-face period in Madrid:

April 2008 | By Ramon Diaz Bernardo, Professor of Marketing at IE Business School

For years now, the energy sector has spurned marketing, but changes in legislation and share structures have brought about a shift in attitudes. Iberdrola is a prime example.

Marketing in energy enterprises, especially electricity companies, is a relatively new phenomenon. Indeed, until a short time ago, many of these companies did not even have a marketing department. The nearest they had was the public relations function or relations with the media, but not much more.

However, for a few years now, electricity companies have been discovering the world of marketing and the question is: why? What has led these companies to invest in marketing? Like almost everything in this sector, the answer has to do with changes to sector legislation and changes to the companies´ capital ownership structures. Yet, in my opinion, until the domestic consumer has the real capacity for choosing his electricity supplier, there will be no real competition. The introduction of a certain level of competition among electricity companies has led them to start investing in their corporate image and it has given rise to a concern for building a differentiated position. In addition, the electricity companies have invested heavily in marketing aimed in some cases at attracting investors (in the case of public invitations to bid) and in others at defending their “independence” (in the case of public takeover bids, especially if they are hostile). Read more…

Teams comprising students from IE Business Schools Master in Financial Management have received the 2nd and 3rd prizes in the third edition of CFA Spainâ??s Financial Analysis Competition, run in collaboration with Bolsas y Mercados Españoles, Sol Meliá and Spanish daily El Economista. The 2nd prize went to the team formed by Ahmed Al Balooshi (Bahrain), Ameya Prabhu (India), Dominik Lanz (Germany), Miguel Moreda (U.S.) and Helga Johannsdottir (Iceland). The 3rd prize went to the team comprised of Ankit Mathur (India), Alexander Tewaag (Germany), Jantiene Maat (Holland), Norma Clemente (Mexico) and Christopher Merl (Germany).

This year, participants had to draft a report on the Sol Meliá hotel chain, including an evaluation and a recommendation for the purchase or sale of the firm. In the prize ceremony, the organizers highlighted the fact that each year participants â??raise the barâ?.

â??2008 has been a year of particularly high levels of quality, and it has been extremely difficult for the judges panel to select a winner in such a close-run competition,â? said Ángel Santodomingo, president of CFA Spain.

Already in 2007, IEâ??s students from this program won the 1^st prize of this competition with the best equity research project.

CFA Spain is the organization that guarantees the title of Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) in Spain, a qualification that distinguishes professionals in the banking and financial markets sectors worldwide.

If you wish to learn more about IEâ??s Masters in Finance, please visit the Master in Finance and the Master in Advanced Finance.

On April 12 Spanish travel agency consortium GEBTA held the presentation ceremony for the GEBTA 2008 awards. IE Business School received the Award for Innovation in recognition of its specialized programs for tourism firms and travel agencies, with a marked focus on the capture and retention of talent and internationalization. Rafael Puyol, president of the IE Foundation and president of the board of directors of IE University, collected the award.

The GEBTA awards are presented on an annual basis to professionals and institutions in the corporate travel sector, the results being based on the votes of clients and associate agencies. This year IBERIA has received the award for the best supplier in the corporate travel sector, while CATAI was recognized as the best supplier in the holiday travel sector.

GEBTA (Guild of European Business Travel Agents) España comprises 17 travel agencies with an aggregate of 815 points of sale and turnover of almost 1,850 million Euros.